Product Description

TEA BASICS

Your complete guide to the perfect cup

Civilized, soothing, delicious, and relaxing . . . tea offers an ideal refuge from the fast pace and stressful demands of life today. But with the astonishing array of teas currently available, how do you find a cup you can really call your own?

Start with Tea Basics. This handy reference covers all of the essentials of tea buying, brewing, and tasting, and explores the comforts of ritual and healing that tea has provided through the centuries. As you sip and savor the wonderful flavors of black teas, green teas, oolongs, and scented/herbal teas, you'll understand why tea is consumed by more people worldwide than any other drink except water. So put the kettle on, put your feet up, and immerse yourself in Tea Basics! Inside you'll find:
* Tea facts: its origins, history, and many varieties
* Guidance on selection, blending, brewing, tasting, and storage
* Tips on tea etiquette
* A tea-tasting glossary
* Select sources of tea and related equipment

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #447866 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
Tea is quickly following coffee into the beverage spotlight. In this concise and accessible guide, you'll get a straightforward introduction to the fundamentals of fine tea. The authors--industry insiders--demystify the world of tea, giving insights into tea's botanical origins and history, as well as its varieties, processing, and grading. Tea Basics also offers tips for tea appreciation.

From the Back Cover
TEA BASICS

Your complete guide to the perfect cup

Civilized, soothing, delicious, and relaxing . . . tea offers an ideal refuge from the fast pace and stressful demands of life today. But with the astonishing array of teas currently available, how do you find a cup you can really call your own?

Start with Tea Basics. This handy reference covers all of the essentials of tea buying, brewing, and tasting, and explores the comforts of ritual and healing that tea has provided through the centuries. As you sip and savor the wonderful flavors of black teas, green teas, oolongs, and scented/herbal teas, you'll understand why tea is consumed by more people worldwide than any other drink except water. So put the kettle on, put your feet up, and immerse yourself in Tea Basics! Inside you'll find:

• Tea facts: its origins, history, and many varieties
• Guidance on selection, blending, brewing, tasting, and storage
• Tips on tea etiquette
• A tea-tasting glossary
• Select sources of tea and related equipment

About the Author
WENDY RASMUSSEN is the Executive Director of the American Premium Tea Institute, and a frequent contributor to tea industry journals.

RIC RHINEHART is the president of R2 Consultants, a management consulting company specializing in premium tea.

Customer Reviews

An okay book
I ordered both this book and The Tea Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide by Jane Pettigrew . Though I read this book first, I was most impressed by Tea Companion. Tea Basics seemed to have a bit more depth when talking about the history of tea, but it disappointed me most was the end. I had hoped to learn more about specific types of tea, but instead the author tells how to plan and execute a tea party. Not something I care about in the least and for something that (to me) is so insignificant, I found that too much time was given to the information.

All in all, not a bad book, but you can really do better. Check out Pettigrew's book. I would have been happier just getting that one alone.

Great starter book on tea
To try to prevent my niece from spending all of her time in college going to starb%#ks I recently put together a care package of tea brewer, a few starter books on tea, and some nice loose leaf teas in tins. Going through the recently published books on tea I found this one which is a nice paperback book on tea basics. It has a little filler but covers all of the fundamentals in a concise way, a brief history of camellia sinensis, where it is grown today, grades, types, how the market for tea works, tea vocabulary, some pros/cons on how to brew, and has a nice list of tea resources appended to the back. It even has a good brief description on how to cure a new yixing pot. I like it when a "book on basics" is done well for a topic, and this one is in that category. Not a lot of pretty pictures here... just some good basic information on tea. Throw in Okakura Kakuzo, one of the paperbacks by Diana Rosen and you have yourself a nice present to give someone just starting out with tea. WARNING to tea novices, this stuff is addicting and before you know it you will have an assortment of kettles cups and pots, thermometers, scales, infusers, tins and a dogeared copy of John Blofeld's book. You have been warned.

tea time
I absolutely was intrigued by this book, read while sipping a cup of tea. My favorite teas are Republic of Tea, I'd recommend those as well! I liked learning about "TGBOP", Oolong teas, how to brew teas, teas from different countries, etc. I am by no means a tea snob, just a tea lover. This book is great for tea drinkers of any kind.